2022 Global Impact Summit, East Asia

The three-day virtual East Asia Summit featured speakers from China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan on key topics for impact in the region.

After another sold-out event in Bengaluru the previous week, HolonIQ’s Global Impact Summits extended across to East Asia, to explore the changing impact economy over three days with startups and established players, investors, researchers and experts working within and beyond the region.

Through HolonIQ’s signature overview of the global impact economy from population growth, advanced technology, capital markets and the innovation economy, Co-CEOs Maria Spies and Patrick Brothers underlined the key role of Asia’s population in the second half of this century, as part of over 2 billion more learners expected globally by 2050.

The challenges and opportunities of the varied countries in this region were taken on by speakers during the three-day East Asia Summit. Presentations, discussions and virtual fireside chats highlighted how innovation and impact is being realized with increasingly advanced technology, combined with a keen appetite for focussing on and elevating the human experience, particularly in the education landscape.

Strengthening tech infrastructure, but with a clear focus on learners and teachers

In a varied education track, we heard from expert speakers including Sohee Shin, CEO of Education Commission Asia, part of a global initiative encouraging greater progress on SDG 4 - ensuring inclusive and quality education for all. Sohee shared how the global initiative ‘High Touch High Tech for All’ (HTHT) aims to deliver personalized learning for the most disadvantaged learners by combining the unique strengths of the teacher (High Touch) and the power of Artificial Intelligence (High Tech).

“There is a saying that 20th century teachers teach 21st century students in 19th century classrooms. The traditional model of education where all students received standardised education has failed millions of students around the world”

Sohee Shin, CEO, Education Commission Asia

These themes were echoed by other speakers, including Ted Mo Chen, Vice President, Globalization at ClassIn, who spoke about a growing demand for adoption of student-led pedagogies in the East Asia region, catalyzed by a combination of high enrollments, disengaged students and stressed faculties. As East Asian countries such as Japan, Korea and China look to balance long hours of study and tutoring with enhanced student and teacher experience, the role of hybrid classroom solutions is coming more into focus:

“Classroom is a huge factor to boost learning outcomes; 25% of change in an academic year has been shown to be associated with classroom design”

Ted Mo Chen, Vice President, Globalization, ClassIn

Ted Mo Chen (ClassIn) speaks with Maria Spies, Co-CEO of HolonIQ, on ‘Prepping for a Hybrid Future’

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Several speakers shared views on how global and local trends are developing in the region, including talent cultivation, capability development, and investment. In a preview of an upcoming 2022 Taiwan EdTech report, Massarow Shen from the Institute for Information Industry (III) Taiwan illustrated a thriving $18.6b market, over 80% of which is focussed on teaching hardware, and particularly on infrastructure for classrooms and institutions as students return from home learning restrictions to in-class presence.

Steve Yang, General Manager of BenQ Taiwan also illustrated the increasing engagement of EdTech providers with school faculty and systems, where providers support teacher capability not only with using the technology, but also integrating with lesson planning and working to evolve traditional approaches to teaching, building relationships through workshops, events and extensive professional development.

This expanding view of holistic learning and technology integration was also evident in voices from outside the East Asia region, including Mika Kasanen, CEO of Finnish EdTech startup School Day, who noted a growing openness in these countries to nurturing the social emotional learning needs of students in schools, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on young people’s wellbeing.

Maria Spies wrapped up the education track by taking us through the East Asia EdTech 200, HolonIQ's annual list of the most promising EdTech startups from across the region.

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Accelerating the energy transition in China.

As part of a deep dive into climate tech in China, Program Director of NEX China Andrew Chang shared insights into the impressive progress and innovation happening across many areas both within and outside the region. New Energy Nexus (NEX) is an international organization that supports clean energy entrepreneurs, from emerging tech through to clean energy deployment and adoption.

Andrew spoke about China’s pledge for ‘3060’, a shorthand for the expectation to reach peak emissions by 2030, and a goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Technology solutions will be key to this goal, as well as effective ecosystem building, supporting entrepreneurs, and building bridges between China and the rest of the world.

“We need both a China-in and China-out approach as it relates to climate; we cannot be isolated in siloes, we need to be adapting great technologies from abroad and scaling them in China.”

Andrew Chang, Program Director, New Energy Nexus China

Andrew Chang (New Energy Nexus) and Patrick Brothers (HolonIQ) discuss how accelerate the energy transition in China

In ‘Scan the Earth: Metaverse for the Real World’, we heard from Alpha Wang, Founder and CEO at TerraQuanta, who provide spatial big data products for different industries, from forest fire monitoring in the Amazon, to deformation measurement of the Siberian oil pipeline, and national soybean production forecast in the United States.

In another fascinating session, Founder and CEO of Blue Future, Peng Yang, explained the global challenges posed by excess activated sludge (EAS) and the innovative possibilities for treating this as a resource, a carbon source and even a biomass fuel.

HolonIQ Co-CEO Patrick Brothers closed the climate track by sharing the 2022 East Asia Climate Tech 200, the most promising ClimateTech startups in East Asia.

Follow 100 Days of Impact

The East Asia Summit marked Days 27 to 29 of 100 Days of Impact and a global wave of ideas and inspiration for the future of impact. As each week unfolds, we’re sharing key themes and content from each summit, including speaker highlights, insights from leading organizations and the winners of our regional EdTech, HealthTech and ClimateTech 1000s.

Stay tuned here for a weekly wrap as we move from New York and Mexico City to Bengaluru, Melbourne, Singapore and Jakarta, with exclusive insights from our participation at COP27 before our final summits in London, Paris, Berlin, and Stockholm. Be part of the action by registering for any of the face to face or virtual summits around the world, and see for yourself how 100 Days of Impact unfolds with our 5,000-strong global community.

Whether you’re participating or spectating from afar, find out the latest with #HolonIQSummits and by following @HolonIQ wherever you get your socials.

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